According to the just-released June jobs report from the Department of Labor, 213,000 jobs were added last month, slightly higher than economists' expectations of about 200,000.The unemployment rate rose to 4 percent, from 3.8 percent. (New York Times)

For banks like HSBC, the core of the "bank branch of the future" is the desire to build the best retail experience in banking—which can involve innovations like friendly, interactive robots or even drones. (ABA Banking Journal)

Business leaders have started to raise concerns with the Federal Reserve about potentially damaging effects of tariffs as the trade dispute heats up between the U.S. and key economic partners. (CNBC)

On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast, John Oxford, head of marketing and corporate communications at Renasant Bank in Tupelo, Miss. discusses the bank's content strategy to engage potential customers without making them feel like it’s an awkward brand interruption. (ABA Banking Journal)

As cryptocurrency evolves, it's less about buying things and more about investing. Regulators are trying to figure out how to protect investors, but no one has yet decided how to classify bitcoin and other digital currencies. (Marketplace)

Mortgages can be an expensive, risky and an agonizingly cyclical proposition for many midsize and community banks. For many, the expense is driven by a business model in which a mortgage operation is a standalone unit, an inefficient approach that cuts the rest of the bank off from a wealth of data. (ABA Banking Journal)

California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill creating new data privacy requirements for businesses that handle consumer data in the state. The bill was passed as a compromise measure to avert a more intrusive ballot initiative this fall; while business groups find the legislation only marginally better than the initiative, the process of amending the new law would be easier. (ABA Banking Journal)

Top executives at 89 percent of large U.S. companies are seeing tax savings as a result of the tax reform bill passed late last year, and they plan to continue using their savings to invest in growth-related activities, according to a survey of CEOs, COOs and CFOs conducted by PwC. (ABA Banking Journal)

By a bipartisan 86-11, the Senate passed its version the 2018 farm bill at the end of June. The vote sets up a conference between the Senate version and the recently passed House version where lawmakers will address differences in the two bills on nutritional assistance, farm subsidy caps and conservation initiatives. (ABA Banking Journal)

According to the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee’s June 12-13 gathering in Washington, Fed officials have reaffirmed their commitment to gradually raising the benchmark lending rate, amid rising risks from trade battles and emerging-market turmoil. (Bloomberg)

In response to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s eleventh of 12 requests for information, American Bankers Association issued a comment letter encouraging the CFPB to broaden the scope of the financial education it provides and promotes. (ABA Banking Journal)